Georgios Papandreou

Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece

Geórgios Papandréou born 16 June, 1952. Is the incumbent Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece following his party's victory in the 2009 legislative election. The son and grandson of former Greek prime ministers, he twice served as Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (1988-1989 and 1994-1996) and was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004. Papandreou has been leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party since February 2004. In 2006 he became President of the Socialist International. George Papandreou became the 182nd Prime Minister of Greece on October 6, 2009, inheriting a severe economic crisis.

He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, where his father, Andreas Papandreou, held a university post. His mother is American-born Margaret Papandreou, née Chant. He was educated at schools in Toronto, at Amherst College in Massachusetts, Stockholm University, the London School of Economics and Harvard University. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Amherst and a Μaster's degree in sociology from the LSE. He was a researcher in immigration issues at Stockholm University in 1972-73. He was also a Fellow of the Foreign Relations Center of Harvard University in 1992-93.

In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Amherst College and in 2006 he was named Distinguished Professor in the Center for Hellenic Studies by Georgia State College of Arts and Science.

Papandreou's father studied and worked as professor of Economics from 1939 to 1959. His paternal grandfather, the elder George Papandreou, was three times Prime Minister of Greece.

The younger George Papandreou came to Greece after the restoration of Greek democracy in 1974. He then became active in his father's party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He joined the Central Committee of PASOK in 1984.

Papandreou was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1981, the year his father became Prime Minister, as MP for the constituency of Achaea. He became Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs in 1985, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in 1988, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993, Minister for Education and Religious Affairs again in 1994, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 1996 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1999. He was also Minister Responsible for Government Coordination for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games in 1997.

In his second term as Minister of Education, Papandreou was the first politician in Greece to introduce affirmative action, allocating 5% of university posts for the Muslim minority in Thrace. He was also instrumental in initiating the Open University in Greece.

Papandreou received numerous awards and honorary degrees in recognition of his work for human rights. As Foreign Minister he toned down the inflammatory nationalist rhetoric of his father and fostered closer relations with Turkey and Albania with which Greece had traditionally hostile relations. He worked tirelessly to solve the dispute over Cyprus; his efforts helped bring together the Annan Plan. Papandreou, like all other political leaders, was unwilling to make concessions on Greece's fundamental position that Cyprus must be reunited and accepted that this could not lead to a status quo ante of a normal unified state. However, the Republic of Cyprus entered the European Union and become a full member of the E.U. family in 2004. Papandreou also worked to resolve tensions regarding the Macedonia naming dispute.

Apart from Greek and English, he is also fluent in Swedish, French, and Spanish.

Papandreou and his wife Ada have a daughter, Margarita-Elena. He also has a son, Andreas, (born 1982) from a previous marriage, 1976-1987, to Evanthia Zissimides, born in Cyprus and raised in England. He has two younger brothers, Nikos Papandreou and Andreas Papandreou, and two younger sisters, Sophia Papandreou and Emilia Nyblom.